


Two Can Play At This Game (#2)

by StellaWella97



Series: Love Is War [2]
Category: Hermitcraft, Hermitcraft RPF, Minecraft (Video Game)
Genre: Hermitcraft - Freeform, M/M, Minecraft, Mycelium, Other, hermitcraft season 7, mcyt - Freeform, mycelium war
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-03
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 20:00:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29176818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StellaWella97/pseuds/StellaWella97
Summary: With Grian finally out of the picture, will Bdubs finally be able to win the heart and trust of his beloved mayor, Scar?
Relationships: Charles | Grian/GoodTimesWithScar, John | BdoubleO100/GoodTimesWithScar
Series: Love Is War [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2141940
Comments: 29
Kudos: 24





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This fanfic is the second part of the 'Love Is War' series so please read 'He's Mine!' first.

It was a beautiful morning. The sun had just begun to rise as Bdubs flew into the Shopping District. He took a moment to admire the unique shops the Hermits had built that dotted the island. The Hermits had truly created this into something wonderful together - this was home. 

Bdubs landed gracefully outside the Town Hall’s grand entrance and felt his heart beating just a little faster as he entered the spacious main room. Scar was sitting high up on his throne made of diamond blocks, Jellie curled up and sleeping comfortably in his lap. 

“Good morning, Mayor Scar! You’re looking great this fine morning. Is that a new monocle I see?,” Bdubs greeted with a charming smile as he bowed slightly at the waist to show respect to his mayor. Scar cracked a small smile as he stood up, depositing Jellie who meowed to show her displeasure at this interruption of her nap onto the seat. 

As Scar descended the ladder from his throne, Bdubs recalled how hard the past two weeks had been for the two of them. Right after he’d made sure Grian would not get in his way ever again, Bdubs had immediately gone to Scar with the recording of Grian confessing to forging Bdubs’s handwriting and planting the journal. He’d thought that would solve everything but Scar had still remained...cold and distant to him.

“Good morning, Bdubs. If you’ll follow me?,” Scar said before abruptly exiting the building. Bdubs quickly followed as they descended the staircase, passing by the trees whose leaves were dotted with teardrop-shaped diamonds before stopping outside the HMS GGG, a floating emporium that had been constructed by Grian. Before Scar even said anything, Bdubs could see why he had been summoned. The lush green grass surrounding the entrance of the barge had been replaced by mycelium. 

Bdubs looked around for any other sign of mycelium growth and sure enough, the entire area surrounding the HMS GGG was dotted with the disgusting grey fungus. The first task Scar had undertaken when he’d been elected mayor was to transform the island by eradicating all the mycelium and replacing it with the much prettier grass. So, why was there mycelium spreading now? 

Scar nervously clasped his hands together, his eyes scanning the mycelium with a look of disgust on his face. “I...I don’t know what’s happening. I was here just yesterday and this...mess wasn’t here but I came by this morning and the mycelium, how is it back? Why is it happening **here**?” Scar said as he gestured at the HMS GGG. He looked to Bdubs, his eyes desperately searching for answers in his face but Bdubs had none. 

Bdubs tried to focus on the problem at hand but he couldn’t help his mind straying to a question that was beginning to annoy him. Why was Scar visiting the HMS GGG so often? When Grian failed to show up for the weekly Hermit meeting two weeks ago, Scar had enquired as to his whereabouts and Bdubs had hinted that maybe Grian was hiding or had decided to leave, plagued by his guilt. Bdubs couldn’t understand why Scar was still so fixated on Grian even though he now knew Grian was a horrible person who had schemed and manipulated for his own selfish desires. 

Scar was looking up at the barge now, his well-featured face bathed in the warm glow from the sun that was shining high above them. Numerous scars lined his face, acting as a constant reminder of his clumsy nature and the hardships he’d been through. Bdubs took a moment to admire how handsome Scar was to him before clearing his throat and saying cheerfully “I’ll get to the bottom of this, Mayor Scar. Don’t you worry about a thing! I’ll also call HEP in to clear up this mess before anyone sees.”

“Thank you, Bdubs. I’ll leave it to you then,” Scar said, the faintest of smiles gracing his lips. He then murmured something about having to see to the construction of a new building in his base back in the jungles and after putting on his Elytra, shot off into the sky with the help of rockets. 

Once Scar had disappeared amongst the clouds, Bdubs turned to walk back to the Town Hall. He needed a moment to think about everything that was going on and his quiet little nook under the stairs there was the perfect place for it. As he was climbing the steps, Bdubs suddenly heard someone calling him from behind and turned around to find Cub hurrying towards him. 

Cub was dressed in his usual Pharaoh attire, befitting his home that he’d built in the desert biome to resemble The Great Pyramid of Giza. He looked a bit out of breath, his face dotted with sweat as if he’d just completed a 5 km marathon. “Hey, Bdubs! I was just wondering if you’d seen Grian anywhere or when the last time you saw him was?,” Cub asked as he wiped the sweat off his forehead with the sleeve of his costume. 

Bdubs’s eyes widened in surprise. As far as he knew, no one had a clue what had happened between Grian, Scar and himself so he really had no reason to be worried. His heart still beat just a little faster as he pictured Grian tied up in an underground cave he’d left him in. “Umm, no. I think the last time I saw him was maybe two to three weeks ago? Why?,” Bdubs asked. 

Cub glanced around nervously to make sure no one was eavesdropping before answering “I’m not supposed to say ‘cause it might cause some panic so don’t go repeating this to any of the other Hermits but Mayor Scar said he thinks Grian’s gone missing and as the Enforcer, he wants me to find him.” 

Bdubs immediately felt the anger rising inside him and had to remind himself mentally to not give anything away just because he was getting jealous. “That sounds awful. I hope he’s okay,” Bdubs forced a concerned frown onto his face. Cub seemed to buy his feigned concern and agreed profusely. “Anyway, I gotta go. Got some important stuff to do for the mayor too - all that mycelium’s back, you know? Let me know if you need my help finding Grian, yeah?” 

Cub looked surprised at the mention of mycelium and bade Bdubs goodbye, wishing him luck. Bdubs thanked him with a warm smile before continuing his ascent up the stairs. He didn’t know what Scar was doing but it was no matter. Grian wasn’t in the picture anymore and Scar would just have to accept that sooner or later whether he liked it or not. 

**He just had to make sure no one ever found Grian.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All Bdubs has to do is find the source of the mycelium and destroy it. Easy, right? 
> 
> It might've been if he hadn't made an enemy out of the wrong person.

Bdubs stood by the HMS GGG, his arms folded across his chest as he watched members of the H.E.P squad dressed in protective hazmat suits clear the infestation of mycelium around the barge. Another H.E.P member would then toss the mycelium into the burning furnace brought from headquarters. 

Over the past two days, the mycelium had spread throughout the entire Shopping District. The island once lush with beautiful flora had quickly become overtaken by the fungus. 

He’d been thinking long and hard about his next steps. Bdubs had determined that the main source of this sudden mycelium growth must be coming from below the HMS GGG, it being the first place the mycelium had suddenly reappeared at. Perhaps if he dug under it, Bdubs would find its source and put an end to the mycelium once and for all. Perhaps then, Scar would finally trust him again. 

After a quick trip back to his base for some supplies, Bdubs was ready to start branch mining. He’d decided that he’d just keep digging underneath and surrounding the barge till he found where the mycelium was coming from. The HEP squad had finished clearing out the mycelium a few hours ago and Bdubs now marked out a 7x7 area directly outside the barge with some yellow and black tape to stop the other Hermits from intruding before he began digging. 

It took several days of mining with only the occasional breaks for naps and to scarf down some food and drink before Bdubs finally hit the jackpot. Just as he was growing tired of mining through cobblestone and diorite, his pickaxe finally struck concrete - a sure sign that there was a build here that was foreign to its natural surroundings. 

Excitedly, Bdubs began mining directly through the concrete and climbed through the hole to find himself in a hallway. The hallway led to a spacious, white room that had a grand meeting table set in the centre with a total of six chairs surrounding it. What was this secret base used for? 

As he neared the table, Bdubs noticed the cause of the spreading mycelium. His eyes widened in surprise as he gazed upon the massive cube of mycelium that was being held up by two thick pipes. These pumps were presumably to lead the mycelium spores to various parts of the shopping district, ensuring its reach went far and wide. Bdubs would have to call up H.E.P again to destroy this source block of mycelium and to take down this piping system before it got out of hand. 

_Who did this? It couldn’t possibly be…_

Just when he thought he’d seen it all, Bdubs came upon a wall with seven sign boards hung up. The first sign post that was placed on its own above the rest read ‘Mycelium Resistance - Info Board’. That wasn’t the most shocking thing there - the six sign boards all had a Hermit's name written on them with a unique title below them. Etho, Impulse, xB, Rendog, Stress and…

“Grian as the...Mother Spore?,” Bdubs mumbled under his breath, frowning in confusion. What did this all mean? Surely, Grian couldn’t be behind this silly resistance nonsense. Bdubs had taken extreme care in ensuring Grian had been tied up properly. Even if he’d somehow escaped his bonds, it would take him months to mine his way out of the cave without any sticks at his disposal to make proper tools. 

Next to the wall of sign boards were a stack of shulker boxes in a variety of colours. The first few boxes Bdubs opened were full of random items such as string, bone meal and stale pieces of bread. It wasn’t until the tenth box that he finally found something of significance - a slightly yellowed piece of notepaper with two links to MineTube videos scribbled on it. 

Despite the ridiculousness of the whole situation, Bdubs moved to sit at one of the chairs surrounding the table as he typed out the first link on his phone’s search engine. It brought him to an unlisted video with the title ‘WE LOVE MYCELIUM’. Raising an eyebrow questioningly, Bdubs pressed the play button and settled back in the chair to watch. 

The video began with a short music video performed by Etho and xB. With Etho dressed up as a block of mycelium and xB as a dirt block with grass growing on the top, the two sang a song about the benefits of mycelium and why it was important to not strip away the island’s natural ecosystem like the ‘evil H.E.P organization’ were doing. On any other occasion, Bdubs might have found this extremely hilarious but this was a clear act of rebellion from people he thought were his friends. 

When the song finally ended with a call to ‘join the Mycelium Resistance’, Bdubs typed in the second link to the search bar which led him to yet another unlisted video which was titled ‘SURPRISE!’. 

When the screen remained black for more than two minutes, Bdubs tapped on his phone’s screen to check if the video was still playing, then bringing it up to his right ear to check if maybe there was something he was supposed to be hearing. It was just then that the sound of someone loudly shouting “Boo!” emitted from the speakers, causing him to almost drop his phone. 

Taking in deep breaths to calm his rapidly beating heart, Bdubs turned back to the phone’s screen and found himself looking directly into an eyeball that was uncomfortably close to the camera. It was another two minutes before the eyeball finally disappeared, the camera panning outwards and revealing Grian moving to sit on a throne of mycelium, a smug smile on his face. 

“Hello there, Bdubs! How’ve you been doing?,” Grian said, waving at the camera. Except for a few scratches on his face, there was no sign at all that he had been trapped underground for what Bdubs assumed had to be days. Grian leaned back in his throne, crossing his legs and continued “I’m sure you have loads of questions you want answered right now. Like how I got out, where I am, ya-da, ya-da. But that’s not important right now, okay?”

Grian heaved a heavy sigh, shaking his head. He looked almost...sad? No, Bdubs decided he was just putting on an act. It was a full minute before Grian finally got up from his throne and strode towards the camera, saying “I can’t believe you could do such a mean thing to me, Bdubs. Jokes on you though, you’re not getting rid of me that easily. You’ll be seeing me again real soon, I promise.” 

He crouched down and with his face fully filling the frame, Grian delivered his final words. “I hope you’re ready for a real big boom,” he said before putting his hand over the camera lens and ending the video abruptly. Bdubs stared at his horrified expression in the reflection of his phone screen. His mind went into turbo-drive, trying to interpret what he’d just witnessed. What had Grian meant by ‘a real big boom’? Was he planning to blow something up? If so, what?

Bdubs hurriedly rushed to check the remaining shulker boxes in hopes of finding a clue to Grian’s intentions. Whatever he had planned couldn’t be good. Unfortunately, all he unearthed from the boxes were just more useless garbage that someone must have left behind. 

He slumped onto the floor and buried his face in his hands, trying to wrack his brains for a solution. Where would Grian target? Surely, the other Hermits who were part of the Mycelium Resistance wouldn’t let him blow up any of the Hermits’s bases. Unless he was working on his own for this?

Grian was the type to make sure his revenge would hit where it hurt so he wouldn’t go for small targets like someone’s redstone machine which could easily be rebuilt in a matter of hours. Bdubs instantly thought of the expression he’d seen momentarily on Grian’s face in the video. Was he just acting then or was it some traces of the guilt he was feeling for his future actions?

_Was he planning on attacking the Shopping District?_

The Shopping District was an area where all the Hermits had labored hours of love on. It was the heart of their small community. If Grian would feel guilty about blowing anything up, that would be it. No one would ever forgive him for doing it. 

Quickly scrambling to his feet, Bdubs climbed back through the hole he’d entered from and ran back to the surface. His hands trembled uncontrollably, making it hard to type Scar’s phone number. He had to warn the mayor and then rally the Hermits he knew weren’t in the Mycelium Resistance so they could start planning a defense strategy.

Grian may have gotten in the way of his relationship with Scar. This time however, Bdubs was not going to let Grian have his way. 

**He would stop Grian from destroying this island he called home, or die trying.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter to go! I really do hope you're enjoying reading this fic as much as I'm enjoying writing it <3
> 
> Thank you for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely day! :D


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I hope you're ready for a real big boom."
> 
> Grian's warning looms over Bdubs as he patrols the Shopping District, anticipating an attack at any moment. 
> 
> Will Grian finally get his way or will Bdubs manage to stop him in time?

“Here, I got some coffee for you.”

Bdubs who had been leaning against the wall outside the Town Hall’s main entrance, turned to smile at Scar who was holding out a mug of steaming hot coffee to him. “Thank you, Mayor Scar. You truly are the best mayor,” Bdubs praised cheerfully as he took the mug and held it with both his hands to warm them up. It was a cold night after all. 

A smile tugged at Scar’s lips and his face which had been clouded over with worry the past couple days brightened slightly. “Thanks, Bdubs. Anyway, I have to go check up on how far the H.E.P crew has gotten with getting rid of that source block,” Scar sighed exasperatedly, running his fingers through his messy dark-brown hair. He hesitated before saying “You should get some rest, Bdubs. When was the last time you slept?”

It was extremely uncharacteristic of him but Bdubs hadn’t slept for two nights straight now. He’d tried but after hours of tossing and turning, he had eventually given up and gone for another patrol of the Shopping District again despite Cub insisting that he had it all under control. Bdubs wasn’t about to tell Scar this though - he had enough to worry about. “I had a short nap earlier today when Cub took over. Don’t you worry about me, I’m as strong as two - no, three Ravagers!”

Bdubs pushed up the right sleeve of his shirt and flexed his arm, proudly showing off his well-toned biceps. Scar blinked in surprise for a second before bursting into laughter. “What?! It’s true!,” Bdubs retorted, not being able to resist smiling too. Even though Scar was laughing at him, it was still worth it just to see Scar happy after so long.

It took a moment for Scar to compose himself again but when he did, Scar looked at Bdubs with a warm smile and said “I really needed that. Thank you - for everything.” Bdubs could feel his cheeks burning and had just opened his mouth to say something when he was interrupted by a chorus of loud explosions coming from the far distance. 

“W-What was that?!,” Bdubs shouted in disbelief. The two pulled on their Elytras and flew to the highest point of the Shopping District - the top of the H.E.P building. From there, they could see a large cloud of smoke in the shape of a mushroom billowing up from amongst the trees in the forests beyond the island they were on. 

Although he wasn’t entirely sure, Bdubs had a horrible feeling he knew what had blown up. 

As if in confirmation of Bdubs’s gut feeling, the extremely loud sound of a foghorn blaring filled the sudden empty silence between them. It was the tune Cub had insisted the mayor set as his ringtone so he would know that the Enforcer was calling, and to not ignore it as Scar was often guilty of doing. 

Scar took his phone out of his pocket and upon pressing the answer button, held it up to his ear. He quickly pulled it away with a wince when he heard Cub’s unintelligible shouting on the other end. “C-Calm down, Cub! What’s the matter? Did you hear that explosion too?,” Scar said, trying his best to make out what Cub was saying. 

After taking several shaky breaths to calm his nerves, Cub finally managed to say “B-Bdubs’s old base…T-The one next to Doc’s house! I was flying by to go see Zedaph and it just....it just blew up! Grian must be behind this!” 

Bdubs felt his heart drop at that instant. He no longer lived there anymore but Doc still did. He’d never forgive himself if something had happened to Doc. Without waiting for Scar, Bdubs grabbed the remaining rockets he had and sped off through the sky towards his old base - the house he’d split with his close friend, Doc when they’d first moved here. 

_Please be okay, Doc...please, please, please._

As he approached the edge of the mountain where he’d once lived before, Bdubs could see flames licking the roofs of the house that had been cleanly split in half. Most of his half of the house had been blown apart, that was where the TNT had been planted. Doc’s house had just been collateral damage. 

“Doc! Are you there?!,” Bdubs shouted as he landed on the grass outside Doc’s side of the property. The explosion had spared nothing - most of the walls and furniture had been blown into pieces, leaving only piles of ash behind in its wake. Bdubs continued shouting for Doc, hoping that he was safe. Cub and Scar joined in the search, going all over the area carefully to make sure Doc wasn’t trapped under the rubble somewhere. 

Finding nothing, they decided to converge on the lawn in between the two halves of the house. “I’ve tried calling him like 20 times. Doc’s not answering,” Scar said as he pressed ‘Call’ on his phone yet again. 

Bdubs waited till the ringing ended with three consecutive beeps, signaling that Doc had not picked up before he spoke “M-Maybe he wasn’t here when it happened? I mean, he could be at Tango’s or Xisuma’s. Maybe we should try calling th-?” Bleep! The sound of a text entering Bdubs’s phone cut him off and he quickly pulled it out of his pocket to check. It could’ve been Doc, after all. But instead, he found himself staring dumbfoundedly at the contact’s name. 

**It was Grian.**

Bdubs opened the text and found only a link which once tapped on, brought him to a MineTube video much like before. This one was simply labelled ‘HA-HA’. This video had been uploaded just 10 minutes ago. Scar and Cub huddled in close to watch the tiny screen, Scar placing a hand on Bdubs’s shoulder and giving it a reassuring squeeze. 

The video began with a very familiar setting. The camera panned around Scar’s mystical forest base before zooming in to the top of Larry the Snail’s shell. Grian was sitting there and he gave a little wave at the camera, his legs dangling over the edge. Grian began saying with a disappointed smile on his face “Oh, Bdubs. You silly, silly man. Did you really think I was going to blow up the Shopping District? Why would I ever do that? I would never risk hurting Scar! After all, you’re the one I have beef with.” 

Grian paused for a moment before continuing, his voice suddenly as sweet as honey “Scar. If you’re there, I just wanted to say that I love you. I love you so, so much! And it’s all because of that meathead Bdubs next to you that we couldn’t be together. Do you know what he did to me?” 

Bdubs’s breath caught in his throat and he glanced over at Scar who was staring fixedly at the screen. His eyes were sparkling with an expression that Bdubs couldn't read - he’d last seen it when they were talking to Grian at the front of the barge weeks ago. 

Bdubs looked back at the phone in time to see Grian wiping away tears, his body shaking with each sob. “H-He tied me up, tossed me into some underground cave a thousand miles away and just...he just left me there to die! Bdubs is a psycho who'd rather kill me than let you be happy, Scar!” Grian cried, staring right at the camera with his tear-filled eyes. 

Grian held out his arms then, his wrists pressed together. He said almost mournfully “I know you may think what I did was wrong but I did what I had to. I did it for us. Arrest me if you want. I’ll be waiting right here.” Just like that, the video came to an end. Both Scar and Cub stepped away, giving Bdubs a cautious stare. 

“I-I never did any of that! Grian’s just being the massive liar that he always is - you both know that,” Bdubs snapped, feeling his face flush with anger. What was Grian playing at? He clenched his fists and took a deep breath to quench his anger for the moment. “Anyway, now we know where he is. Let’s go get him and make him tell us where Doc is.” 

Although they seemed uneasy about following Bdubs’s lead, Scar and Cub hesitantly went with him to locate Grian. He was right where he’d said he’d be - on top of Larry the Snail. Grian didn’t protest when Cub put a pair of handcuffs onto his wrists, not even when he was led into the makeshift jail cell Cub had built a while back under the Town Hall. 

Doc was located a few hours later. He’d been staying over at Keralis’s base for the past couple days and hadn’t even realized anything had happened till Cub informed him. 

It took two whole days for the Hermits to decide a suitable punishment for the wayward Grian. He was to be banished to the Island of Exiles, an island all on its own in the centre of the ocean more than ten thousand miles away, for the duration of five years for his wrongdoings. 

Bdubs on the other hand was let off the hook for his alleged kidnapping of Grian, mostly because it had been Grian’s word against his. After the trial however, Bdubs couldn’t help but notice everyone was walking on eggshells around him, conversations and laughter dying as he walked past. No one trusted him anymore, especially not the person who mattered most to him. He couldn’t blame them. 

Scar meanwhile was now spending more time visiting Grian on the Island of Exiles on the pretext that he was bringing essential supplies to not arouse any suspicions from the other Hermits. Bdubs knew better though. More than once, he’d spied Scar nervously pulling up his shirt collar to hide the small bruises peppered on his neck.

Why Scar still chose Grian after all he'd done, Bdubs had no idea. Maybe Grian had put a love spell on him or something. All he knew was, he’d done all he could and he still lost the love of his life. 

Grian had beaten him, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end! I hope you enjoyed reading <3 
> 
> If the ending felt rushed, I really do apologize - I was beginning to feel a bit burnt out but I pushed through for this last part. I hope it's still up to standard though and that it's enjoyable :) 
> 
> Thank you so much, and have a lovely day!


End file.
